BREWER: The Garden Brewery (collab with Freddo Fox), Zagreb, Croatia

STYLE: Imperial Sour

ABV: 6.4%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

TWITTER: @GardenBrewery1

INSTAGRAM: gardenbrewery

DATE OF POST: 10th April 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

When a brewery decides not to name a particular brew of theirs it’s not a real big deal but is a bit of a shame. I feel like the beer no matter how good or bad lacks a little identity without a name and I also miss the creativity that comes with the naming of a brew. If St Austell had just named their exquisite PROPER JOB simply, IPA I can’t help but feel I would love it a little less even though the beer would be exactly the same. The reason I’m going down this road though to be honest is that The Garden Brewery along with Freddo Fox have decided not to name the beer we have this week which just leaves us with the description of what it is as our name. But it’s not simply a Pale or Stout no no, it’s a fu**in IMPERIAL APRICOT, MANDARIN AND LEMON SOUR.

However, IAMALS actually sounds like a name so we’re going with that, leaving any negativity behind and focusing on the positives and oh my…  there are many!!!

This is an absolute beaut of a brew!

The quite simply stunning tropical nose leads you to your first sip that instantly loads you up with apricot. So. Much. Flavour. The sip remains very much apricot led then moves to an orange and lemon finish. Apricot slowly bleeds back in with the aftertaste and completes the complex fruity rollercoaster.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a fine fine beer and would have probably scored EVEN higher for me if I was a fan of apricot, which on the whole, I’m not.

But a fan of this beer I most certainly am.

Jymi’s Rating: 87%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Ooo I say – what a cracker!

IAMLS is a sour. Sours are good. But, here’s the thing. It’s not the most sour of sours.

But it’s salty.

Yes, I know. Salt and beer sound like they shouldn’t work. But throw in some citrus fruits, add a little apricot and then hit it up with some cardamom and what you’ve got is a revelation of a beer.

Imagine going on a holiday that takes you to Seville, then onto India via North Africa, finishing up in Mexico. It would be incredible. And possibly not possible. Imagine then, trying to sum up that trip in 440ml of beer. Definitely near on impossible. Yet, that’s what the magicians at The Garden Brewery and Freddo Fox (yes, unbelievably this brew is a collaboration between a Croatian brewery and a Spanish brewery) have managed to do in a can! Sounds amazing. Well, IAMLS is amazing.

It’s unique. It’s well conceived. It’s well balanced. And it’s well brewed. IAMLS is well good.

Sammy’s Rating: 95%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 91%

MOB review next weekend: EL PERRO NEGRO by WILLIAMS BROS. BREWING CO.

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze since 2017

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